A Simple Mission
by Wicked Child
Summary: He refused to believe that this opponent would best him. He was an Uchiha. He possessed the Sharingan. Nothing was too difficult for him to accomplish, pass, or defeat. [One Shot]


**AN:** The result of the latest bi-monthly challenge from the het romance community at Live Journal, this time using Stroke Nine lyrics. I could have gone the angsty way and I just may yet, but the following fic is the result of my initial reaction. The horrid Fluff Bunny no Jutsu worked. I'd try to deny it but I obviously can't. So there's fluff and humor. Although I must admit, I like this little ditty. But fear not for I am still working on my other stuffs. No really. I am.

**Disclaimer:** Applicable.  
  
**A Simple Mission**  
by Wicked Child  
  
Sweat trickled down his back, the intensity of the situation getting the better of him. It was a simple mission. So simple he could have done it in his sleep and yet here he was, in a life or death situation that would more than likely lead him to an early grave. He refused to believe that this opponent would best him. He was an Uchiha. He possessed the Sharingan. Nothing was too difficult for him to accomplish, pass, or defeat.  
  
But this.... This was proving too much even for him. Yet he refused to believe that he would fail. Not to something simple such as this. He could handle failure so long as it was a worthy failure. Failing to kill Itachi was something he could live with because that meant he had to get stronger. He learned from it. Failing to defeat Gaara proved the same. But he grew from those failures. They made him stronger, and while he still hadn't defeated that poor excuse for a brother, he had grown. Exponentionally.  
  
His eyes skimmed the scroll in his hand again. It was simple. Too simple. It was absurd that he could not complete this simple, mundane task. He was worth more than this, but it had come straight from the Godaime herself and there was nothing he could do but accept. And now he wished he hadn't. Not only was he ill prepared for such a simple, idiotic mission but he had also just returned from a long, six-month arduous mission and wanted nothing more than to relax. Yes he wanted to relax and do nothing. Just once in his life he wanted to do nothing. But even that was denied him.  
  
The sweat continued to trickle down his back as a single bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. It was agonizingly unfair. Screams from behind him began to invade his concentration. Someone was hurt, and from the sound of the screams it was pretty bad. They were getting louder and it took all his control not to lash out. But that wouldn't be beneficial and he knew this, so he kept his mouth shut and his weapons tucked away.  
  
_You're an Uchiha! You can do this Sasuke! Nothing is too difficult for you. You're a man and a Konoha shinobi. This is child's play. Literally._  
  
Pursing his lips together, Sasuke made the best of what he saw before him. The scroll detailed what needed to be done but the components weren't complete so he had to improvise. He was a ninja after all, ANBU, powerful. He could overcome. He could adapt. And he sure as hell knew he was improvising. But if this proved wrong, if any of the details were missed, neglected, he knew death was waiting for him.

* * *

Sakura walked along the deserted street, humming happily to herself. And while the humming and happy part were true, it would be wiser to say that she wasn't really walking but moved with a moseying and waddling combination to her destination. She had been given a wonderful present by several of her friends to spend the day at a spa, being pampered and practically worshipped for just being a woman. It had been awhile since she had felt like a woman so it was with regret she had left the place to return home.  
  
She giggled to herself as she neared her abode and tried her best to prepare herself for the worst as she walked through the door. _I wonder if he figured out where the safety pins and extra cloth for diapers were hidden._  
  
Sakura had wanted to push her husband to find what was needed. She had made it into a real mission, investigation needed to be done. And if he couldn't find what he needed, she hoped he would venture out into the village with the children and experience a day out and about with his two young sons. The sight that met her brought another round of giggles to her lips as she took in the disheveled home.  
  
A great shinobi her husband was but a great housekeeper he was not.  
  
She found said husband lying on the couch with their eldest child atop his chest. They were both sleeping. She smiled at the sight before her and etched it into memory. He was going to kill her for doing this to him. She saw the baby asleep in his bassinette and gently lifted him out, soothing him when he began to shift and open his eyes. The pink haired woman then carried her youngest to the room he shared with his older brother and placed him in his crib.  
  
Sakura noticed that the child was wearing an old shirt of Sasuke's as a diaper, tied in knots at the sides. The woman did her best to keep from out right laughing at the revelation. She kissed his temple before returning to the main room to quietly pick up the mess the men in her life had created.  
  
_The place was immaculate when I left this morning. Dear heart, you truly suck at keeping house._  
  
She turned down the volume of the television before shutting it off. As she bent forward to pick up some toys a voice spoke softly behind her.  
  
"I've always liked you in the position."  
  
Sakura smirked as she continued to pick up some toys. "I don't doubt it. We are on our third child after all." She straightened before turning to face her husband. "I see you survived your mission today."  
  
He snorted before replying. "Barely. This monster is worse than any missing-nin I've encountered." Sasuke looked at the boy resting on his chest. He then looked over to where the baby should have been but saw the bassinette empty. "Where'd the baby go?"  
  
"I put him to bed, which is what we should do with this little monster." Sakura moved to take the sleeping boy off her husband but stopped when a hand gently pushed one of her arms down.  
  
"I'll do it."  
  
Sakura smiled to herself as she watched the two disappear down the hall before resuming her cleaning. She pretended to not notice Sasuke kissing their oldest child on the head as the pair walked away. Despite the fact that Sasuke harbored hatred toward his own brother and vowed to kill him, telling her often times that he would leave without warning if the opportunity arose, she loved her life. She loved her husband. She loved her sons. She loved the unborn child growing inside. She had no complaints. None. Not really.  
  
She ventured into the kitchen and found one of the strangest concoctions she'd ever seen in one of her prized pots. _What the hell is this?_ Sakura poked the yellowish orange substance and then a strange, brown round thing. _What the hell did he feed my child?_  
  
Sasuke watched his wife from the doorway, inspecting his choice of food for the day. "It's macaroni and cheese."  
  
"Huh?" Sakura looked back at him as she continued to poke the brown round thing.  
  
"The yellow pasta is macaroni and cheese." He smirked despite himself.  
  
"And what is this thing?" Sakura poke it again, suspiciously.  
  
"A Frankfurter."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
Sasuke smiled openly now. He knew a form of food she did not and for whatever reason it gave him great satisfaction. "A wiener. A poor imitation of bratwurst. Hot dog."  
  
Sakura frowned. "Whatever it is I don't want anyone in this house eating it again. It feels funky."  
  
"When you're on a mission, you don't have much choice in food selection. You take what you can get." Sasuke walked behind his wife and placed his arms around her waist, his hand rubbing her swollen belly. The baby inside kicked at his hands and he pressed gently back. _Most likely another boy._  
  
"You make a poor housekeeper Uchiha."  
  
Sasuke pressed his face against her hair, breathing her in. "That's why I married you. So I wouldn't have to do such menial tasks."  
  
Sakura arched one of her delicate eyebrows. "Oh? I thought it was so you could screw me senseless under the guise of restoring your clan."  
  
"That too." His hands moved from her swollen belly to cup her breasts. "You know, if you weren't pregnant now, I'd make sure you were by morning."  
  
"Ever the romantic aren't we Uchiha." She yelped when he playfully nipped her neck.  
  
"That was a cruel thing you did today," he whispered.  
  
"It wasn't my idea," Sakura feigned innocence. "Ino, Hinata, and Tsunade-sama all felt that I needed a day to pamper myself. But how could I possibly be pampered with two little ones following me?" She cocked her head to the side too look into her husband's dark eyes. "Tsunade-sama felt that it was time for you to do your fatherly duties. If she made it into an official mission, you couldn't refuse."  
  
Sasuke growled. "What would that old bat know of fatherly duties?" Sasuke didn't know whether he was more miffed for having been assigned a mission to which he already accepted years ago or for being assigned a mission a Genin team could have accomplished.  
  
"Do you regret today?" Sakura asked softly.  
  
Sasuke was quiet for a moment. It had been a difficult mission. Changing the baby's diaper had proved most difficult as half of the materials needed were unaccounted for. Getting his oldest son to eat the macaroni and cheese had been another difficult task but the boy seemed to like it, especially the wieners. The screaming children, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes separately was more than his sanity could bear but he had survived. Kissing a scrapped knee was an unusual thing for him since that was what mother's were for but she was out getting pampered by.... A thought suddenly occurred to the young man.  
  
"At the spa, did any men pamper you?"  
  
His question startled the pink haired young woman. "What?"  
  
"Did any man pamper you while at the spa?"  
  
Brow furrowed, Sakura nodded. "Yes."  
  
This time Sasuke frowned. "Next time you need pampering, tell me. I don't want other men touching or looking at you."  
  
Sakura smiled at her husband. It was rare for him to show his jealous side but when he did, she actually liked it. Most men already knew not to look at her, not that they would whenever she was pregnant, and they all certainly knew not to touch her. "Are you sure you're man enough to handle that?"  
  
Sasuke balked at her question. "If I'm man enough to marry, bring forth children in this world, finally allow myself to love, kill for a living to protect those that I do love, I think I'm man enough to pamper a Konoha kunoichi."  
  
Sakura arched her eyebrow again and smiled. "We shall see Uchiha. The things that man did to me left me breathless! It was divine!" Sasuke's lips against hers suitably cut off any other words that Sakura attempted to get out, his tongue invading her mouth. _And this is why we're on our third child after only four years of marriage._  
  
As their kiss deepened to more intimate pleasures, Sasuke reflected back on his mission for the day. Sakura had asked if he regretted it and he failed to answer, mainly because at first he didn't know. But holding her in arms, knowing that his two sons were safe in their beds, and his life was relatively normal Sasuke knew that he didn't regret a damn thing. The two of them had made the best of what they had and done so beautifully.

* * *

"Sasuke?"  
  
"Hm?" Sasuke pressed himself further into the bed, hoping his wife wasn't going to start a thought provoking conversation. The children and then their lovemaking had worn him out.  
  
"I have a confession to make."  
  
Sasuke felt her small hands caress his hair. He grunted in an attempt to tell her to continue with this confession.  
  
"The other materials needed to change the baby's diaper are in the study. I hid them in your desk. Bottom left drawer to be exact."  
  
Sasuke let this information roam around in his brain before focusing on the more important words spoken.  
  
_Bottom left drawer._  
  
His eyes shot open as he looked up into his wife's impish face. Fear gripped him.  
  
"Honey, I never knew you liked the Icha Icha series. You spent too much time with Kakashi-senpai."  
  
Sasuke gulped as he watched his wife's impish face turn predatory. "Sakura. I...uh...." The words wouldn't come.  
  
"At least now I know where you got some of your moves from." Sakura descended on her husband hungrily, lust filling her green eyes.  
  
Sasuke, though tired, didn't stop her one bit. That was one thing he knew not to do with a pregnant woman, and more specifically a pregnant Sakura.  
  
_And she wonders why we have three children._ Sasuke smirked as his body came alive. He had a new, more pleasing mission to take care of now 


End file.
